The year was 1998. The Spice Girls blew up the radio stations and Nintendo made every kid under 15 glued to their Game Boys game. Pokémon Red and Blue. Many of those kids, including some of us here at Nintendo Life, are now 30 years old – and therefore not much longer for this world – and it feels like Pokémon doesn’t age with players. older than us. In fact, many Pokémon games have dropped in both difficulty and complexity after their release. It got to the point where we Pokémon Veterans really hope Game Freak adds or removes some features to both make the game more challenging and streamline otherwise tedious mechanics.
We’ve compiled a list of 6 things ancient Pokémon players we’d love to see almost as much as a bowl of Raisin Bran on Sunday morning. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet opens Generation IX later this year.
The Return of Challenge Mode
We want the tough Pokémon game to be the equivalent of deciding what to eat for dinner a week in advance. January Pokémon Legend: Arceus took a step in the right direction by adding an extra layer of challenge back to the Pokémon game developed by Game Freak, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t worried Scarlet and Violet might step back into the game. difficult to fix.
Pokémon Black and White 2 encounter higher difficulty in the most Pokémon way possible: they locked it after trading via a key via the Unova Link feature acquired at the end of Pokémon Black 2. It’s meant to be experienced. higher difficulty level, you have to beat the game first and have a friend to trade with to unlock Challenge Mode.
We’re old, Game Freak. We are no longer friends. Give us a Challenge Mode from the start, or at least more trainers like Cynthia.
An engaging end game
We’ll admit Generation I didn’t have the best ending game, but subsequent titles, especially Battle Frontiers in Pokémon Emerald and Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver, adding an addictive experience after defeating the Elite Four. Since then, however, endgame content has been severely lacking or non-existent, falling behind what many non-Pokémon games offer. Partly because of the focus on story-driven content – Delta Episode, Team Rainbow Rocket, Isle of Armor – and partly because the rewards for post-game content are often lacking. Battle Points, which players use to buy in-game items, aren’t enough to keep us coming back.
We want the return of something as deep as Battle Frontiers with meaningful rewards – be it shiny Pokémon, alternate shapes, or an increasingly larger challenge like a roguelite mode – to help distract us from the anxiety that paralyzes recent real-world events. instilled in us.
Build an accessible team
Capturing 78 Bulbasaur for the perfect six Personal Values is not difficult. It’s as tedious as our pre-pandemic commute. Where other competitive games focus on getting players into battle as quickly as possible, where they can build skills and test new strategies as the supergame evolves, Pokémon games delight. with us wasting our time incubating hundreds of eggs just to build a viable team. This process can take hours, even as a lot of useful items are introduced in Sword and Shield and Ditto with perfect stats for breeding.
And Arceus forbids if we want to make a small tweak to our team, such as reducing or increasing the speed stats based on meta changes, because that could take away those precious things. few hours before we go to bed 9:30.
Individual Values and Effort Values need to be further streamlined to help both old players save daylight and new players grasp the esoteric mechanics.
Encourage competition
Like rewards given in post-game content, motivations to play competitive Pokémon are unfounded; Players receive prizes at the end of each month of play, but these are usually insignificant. Furthermore, the Battle system is ranked in Pokémon Sword and Shield feels undercooked. The progression through each level – from Pokéball to Master Ball – is based entirely on winning and losing, rather than a matchmaking system that pits players against people of similar skill. A new player with a half-developed team can be compared to a professional player practicing for the VGC World Championship, both of which detract from any sense of progress towards the level. skills and makes online Pokémon difficult to join.
Our advanced Pokémon players demand a constant trickle of affirmation of our abilities instead of not getting our day jobs and emotionally distant Boomer parents. As for Sword and Shield, we could also – we don’t know – read a book or take a cooking class.
Another achievement
Eevee will be available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. This has not been confirmed, but given the popularity and sales of the fox-like Pokémon, second only to Pikachu, we’d be surprised if Game Freak skipped Eevee.
Eevee’s prediction happens for every Pokémon release. we predict it for Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and was unsuccessful, and recently a fascinating rumor and theory alluding to a new Success making it seem more likely in Scarlet and Violet.
Many newer Pokémon fans may not know that before modern history, Eevee had only father developments. It’s been 9 years since the last Eeveelution, Sylveon, debuted in Pokémon X and Y, and if we have to wait for another Generation of Games, arthritis could keep us from enjoying Eeveelution-type Ghosts or Dragons in dream.
A Pikachu Chonky
Back when the Pokémon games were black and white and we had to hike to school both ways in hail and without a pair Safety glasses, Pikachu funny. To us, PokéVeterans, this represents the ideal Pikachu form and you may not like it, but this is what Pika’s top performance looks like.
Pikachu Chonky is back in Sword and Shield as Gigantimax, and while we’ve seen Pikachu rub his cheek in Scarlet and Violet revealed the trailerif Game Freak had any love for its legacy fans, they’d immediately swap out its slimmer in-game model for one better suited to Generation I sprite.
Yes – we know that this post sounds like an old man yelling at the kids to get off his lawn. Because it is. Pokémon is no longer made for those of us who started playing in 1998 who struggled against Agatha’s Gengar and searched under SS Anne’s truck for Mew. Every subsequent Pokémon release has an audience: children, not video game critics in their thirties. And that’s okay. Pokémon aren’t necessarily made for us; in fact, part of the charm may come from its childlike appeal, drawing us back to simpler times without too much backache.
However, that doesn’t mean we can’t dream. If Pokémon Legends: Arceus changes the formula and adds complexity and difficulty is anything to go by, Game Freak is listening, and maybe when Scarlet and Violet releases later this year, we’ll have a try. worthy challenge to our aged souls.
What do you say? Are there any features you’d like to see added or streamlined in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet? Young or old, comment below!
